


like a love that comes with light

by cascrane (thunder_and_stars)



Series: a dream deferred [6]
Category: no sleep in the city of dreams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-17 07:06:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28721019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunder_and_stars/pseuds/cascrane
Summary: the night hollis left home, it was raining. thunder rattled the windows in their panes as they packed their backpack and walked away.
Series: a dream deferred [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2105190





	like a love that comes with light

the night they left, it was raining. thunder rattled the windows as they packed their backpack and left. 

it was cold on the street, icy winds and harsh rain. they found shelter in a bus station, curled up on the metal bench, and let the rain keep falling. 

they were stronger by morning, ready to fight for what they needed. it was hard, navigating this life, but it was easier than being home. 

they would never go back there, not again. they were on their own now, and they would be fine. 

they wandered each day and each night, found small places to rest and slept on the subways when it got too cold. they didn’t ask for help, and nobody offered. 

it didn’t matter. they were alive. 

they met him on the street one day. he was tired and cold and sitting on the sidewalk, trying not to cry. they understood that. 

he saw them, really saw them, unlike all the others who walked by and didn’t care. he was real, and he was nice. 

they missed having a family, some days. they didn’t miss home, not really. they had never been accepted there. but still, they missed the games with their brother and family dinners and someone who was there when they had nightmares. 

they wanted a family again, a real family. they wanted people who saw them, and cared, people who accepted them. 

they wanted to be real, wanted a family where they could care about others and the others would care about them. 

they wanted to be loved. it was selfish and unfair, and they hated themself for it. still, they would see families on the streets, and they would hate them for having everything. 

they shouldn’t, they knew that. still, it wasn’t fair. they wanted a family again, wanted a home. 

he helped them, said they would be fine. they would be okay together, through everything. he said he cared, and they believed him. 

they believed they would be fine. 

they thought they would die on the streets. they had seen plenty of people who had, forgotten and abandoned and ignored. 

they would fade away, and there would be nobody who cared. 

nobody ever noticed the people on the streets, not really. nobody saw them. they would never get out of there. 

nobody ever made it out, not really. it was always a part of you, no matter what. it was always who you were, deep down, despite everything. 

some people offered help and pointless words. they left a few dollars and mindless promises that they would be fine, they would make it out. 

it wasn’t true, not really, and they could tell that the people didn’t believe their own words. they were going to stay there forever, and they accepted that. 

they met him, though, and they made it out. it seemed unreal for so long, as if it was just a dream that they would soon wake up from. 

it was real, he promised. they would be okay. 

the cold air burned their lungs with each step they took, eyes watering. 

snow stuck to the scarf they looped over their face, warm exhales heating their icy skin. 

he stood beside them as they walked, paper white curls in the air with each breath. 

they pulled down the scarf and smiled, soft puffs of breath fogging the air. 

he had found them that night on the sidewalk, in the dark, under the cracked street lights. 

he had seen them, despite everything, had noticed them and stopped unlike all the others. 

he had gotten them out, found them a home, gave them a family. 

they were going to be fine. 

he took them to an abandoned subway station, showed them a world they had never managed to believe in. he introduced them to others, gave them hope and warmth in the cold of night. 

he gave them a new family. 

they never let themself believe in magic, all those icy nights on cold sidewalks, because that would be giving themself hope and they couldn’t bear to do that. 

still, it felt so familiar immediately, felt safe and amazing. it was home. 

they met others like them, others with similar pasts and fading disbelief surrounding magic. they met people who needed family like they had, and they were okay. 

they were together, all of them, and they would fight for each other, for this new home. 

he had an odd life, magic and people who weren’t family but were the only ones who mattered. it was strange and new to them, but then it was so normal. 

it was their life too, and they were family. they had finally found a home. 

it would have been so easy to fall before they met him. on the streets, nobody cared. 

they could have died or disappeared, and nobody would notice. they waited until they were finally gone, like all the others before. the day never came. 

they hadn’t been a kid, not really. they had stopped being a kid when they left the apartment they were supposed to call home. 

they had stopped being real when they left, started being another faded memory that would soon be gone. 

they didn’t let themself believe it would get better. they knew it wouldn’t, deep down. it was easier if they didn’t have hope. 

it was easier to accept their fate before it came for them. 

they had been okay, though. they had gotten out like they never could have on their own, and they were fine. 

he had saved them, despite his own struggles, and together, they made it through. 

it was warm that afternoon, early summer, and a soft breeze rustled the leaves of the trees overhead.

they sit by the water with him, on a worn wooden bench, watching the rippling surface of the river.

their worn sneakers tap the asphalt below their feet, and they smile.

he found them.

a pigeon wanders over to their feet, pecking at their shoelace.

he laughs as they watch the bird silently.

the air is warm, the clouds soft white puffs in a gentle blue sky overhead.

they’re happy here.

they never spoke much, even as a kid. they were always quiet. people never noticed them, not really.

not even their parents, most days, unless they did something wrong.

people seemed to take being quiet as an excuse to step all over them, and they never spoke up to say anything was wrong. nobody cared, anyway.

they could handle it on their own.

their family never saw how they were struggling, never saw how they were tired and silent. it didn’t matter. 

their family had never mattered anyway.

they wanted to find their real family. they left, and they never looked back. they found the people who mattered, the things that mattered. 

they found a new life, and they were happy.

they learned about magic, learned languages they loved and spent days in the libraries and by the river and with the people who were important. they lived their life, and they were okay.

they made something of themself, and they were going to be fine.

they protected their city, and what mattered, and they were real. they were good at what they did, lived a life they were proud of. 

they were real, and they fought for their world. they mattered.

it got easier, each day, with real family by their side.

they sit around the table, taking notes through the meeting.

they have people who care.

they found a world that feels like home.

they’re real.

jackal promises that they’ll be fine.

hollis believes him.

he knows them.

he has them.


End file.
